Avengees has a bit of an image problem. At its heart, it knows that it’s yet another Angry Birds clone so it tries to cover that up with lots of seemingly new ideas. Luckily, even though the flash soon wears off, the familiar game that’s left is still pretty fun.

Avengees’ first stab at originality comes from its premise which pits five rival alien factions against each other in a struggle for galactic conquest. However, with factions like the Beefcakes of planet Jockulus and Brainspin’s native residents the Smartans, it’s really more of a battle of high school cliques. Each of the five groups have their own campaigns and seeing their hijinks presented in bright, cheery comic book panels is a highlight of the game. Even from this early stage though, the game is a bit misleading. Despite the five storylines there is really only one campaign. Players make their way through the same group of levels and while changing the home planet may alter the way the levels look, their layouts remain the same. That also goes for the various special characters players gain access to along the way. Whether they are a Femme or member of the Stitch Mafia, a grey guy is for basic smashing and a red guy is for, awkwardly, shooting lasers.

However, despite the slightly wonky controls and appearance of more content than there really is, Avengees is still a solid little “physics shooter” or Angry Birds clone. Level designs are creative, it looks and sounds good, and there is even a neat little turn-based multiplayer mode where players build up their own fort defenses before trying to smash down their opponent’s. Granted, actually getting to the game involves skipping a lot of ads, but the experience is at least worth waiting a few seconds for.

When it’s not trying to be more than it is, Avengees is honestly quite enjoyable. Just approach it with managed expectations.

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iPhone Screenshots

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iPad Screenshots

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